Public project narrowing Bosphorus by 8 meters opens

ISTANBUL – Doğan News Agency

A public road project which includes separate lanes for bicycles and pedestrians, and which narrowed Istanbul’s Bosphorus Strait by eight meters on the European side of the city, has been put into service. 

The project, which brings a bicycle lane, a walking trail, a platform for fishing and an open parking garage to the Emirgan coast of Istanbul, was built on the Bosphorus’ waters and has been opened for public use. 

The project was launched by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality in March 2014 and has been criticized for providing parking spaces for nearby restaurants and cafes. As a part of the project, stakes were initially driven into the strait before platforms were created by cementing the area. 

The road, which is 700 meters long and eight meters wide, has a bicycle lane that is two meters wide and a walking lane for pedestrians which is six meters wide. A parking garage with a capacity of 116 cars has also been constructed within the plan. 

The project also has three platforms for citizens who would like to fish with their fishing rods, without disturbing pedestrians, which is usually a common problem on the coasts’ of Istanbul. 

While construction and cement work is still continuing on a small section of the road complex, landscaping works are also continuing. When the plan is completed, an area of 11,300 square meters will have been reorganized. The plan also includes a total of 1,550 square meters of green areas. 

The project has narrowed the Bosphorus by eight meters, subsequently leading to questions about maritime traffic on the already congested strait, which has a busy schedule and sees many accidents caused by the high amount of traffic.   

Recently two accidents occurred on the same day on the Bosphorus. 

A 106-meter-long Sierra Leone-flagged dry cargo vessel named the “Majed and Randy” had crashed into the Ethem Pertev mansion, which dates back to the 1860’s, on the shore of the Bosphorus on July 21 due to a problem with the ship’s rudder, thus causing pecuniary damage. 

No injuries or environmental pollution were reported but it had taken three towboats and eight lifeboats to save the ship, which had first anchored under the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge before it was taken to Büyükdere by the guides.

Later in the day, two sand coasters crashed off Istanbul’s northern Riva coast in the Black Sea, with one sinking as a result of the accident.

The Turkish-flagged sand coasters, named “AKEL” and “ŞENKUL K,” crashed, after which the AKEL vessel sank. Nine of AKEL’s crew were rescued, though one was injured and sent to hospital while another was found dead during the rescue operation.